Dream of Gumiho
by Hiira
Summary: After being turned into a magical creature by Voldemort Harry is on the run. He will embark on a journey to the Land of Fire once he learns that he still have one remaining family - a brother alive.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

* * *

"Shit!" Furry ears perked up at the frustrated swearing. "Argh! Why won't it break?!"

Two emerald orbs gazed at the blond boy who suddenly noticed the other's presence.

"Oh? Hello again." Naruto's face brightened at the familiar black fur ball that started to stagger towards him as fast as it could.

"Were you waiting for me?" The ebony fox barked as though to answer him.

"Where's your family?" The nine-tails vessel smiled sadly when the kit just nuzzled against him.

"You look too young to be on your own." He petted the young cub which the fox enjoyed by responding the gesture with something close to purring.

The genin first met the small animal the previous day while he was training to break the accursed water balloon. Once Naruto was done playing with the kit, he tried to search for the baby fox's family but his efforts were fruitless. Feeling that he cannot delay his training any longer, Naruto found what he deemed as a safe shelter and left the animal there with some food, hoping the youngling would survive the wild.

"Already giving up?" Jiraiya teased seeing his charge not training but sitting for once.

"No way!" Naruto immediately jumped up and held a water balloon in his hand with a determination to prove otherwise. Then Naruto noticed the Sannin's eyes observing the small fox trying to hide behind his legs at Jiraiya's sudden entrance.

"Where did that come from?" At the question Naruto retraced history regarding the black fox and Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the petite pup with suspicion. The creature before him unnerved the older ninja not only by its unusual fur colour but its eyes that hid intelligence as well. The last time Jiraiya saw such a mesmerizing green iris was that of Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's mother.

"Okay, back to training"! Naruto cried out.

During the rest of the day, Jiraiya noted how the young creature observed the blond genin and glanced towards his way once in awhile; nevertheless, the Sannin was well aware that the fox was actually constantly wary of him. The night covered the sky and as the two shinobi walked back to their inn, the little animal followed. Unlike shinobi animal, the fox staggered indicating its young age.

"Ne, ero-sennin, can I take him with us?" Out of the blue, Naruto pleaded as he petted the tiny being that now stood on its hind legs by putting its two paws on the boy's legs.

"Huh?" Jiraiya was dumbfounded at the sudden request.

When the question settled in his head he began to weigh his options. If the creature was indeed suspicious, it was a better to keep the eyes on it than up close? Still he'll play out his role of a guardian who is uncertain about having a pet just for fun of it.

"Hmmm. You are aware of our current situation, right?"

"Of course! But he's going to die if I just leave him alone! Also, he's attached to me. He thinks I am his mother or something." Naruto now picked up the small fox in his arms.

Naruto had seen a lot of stray animals before in the Leaf village since he was a child, but he wasn't sure what caught his heart to this tiny pup. Unlike before there was unexplainable force that pulled him to the fox. With a tired sigh Jiraiya allowed the fox to stay. After they arrived in their room, the blond washed the small kit while attempting to come up with a name.

Harry grudgingly allowed the hyperactive child to wash him. He didn't like the bath but he had no choice in the matter. It had been about a week since he arrived in the Fire Country looking for his half brother. Harry could still vividly remember the shock he experienced when such news was revealed more than a week ago.

"Excuse me? You mean to tell me my mom was actually alive until I was five years old?!" The disbelief in his voice was matched by his expression along with Remus'.

"I thought Lily and James died when Harry was about one year old?" Remus who was sitting next to Harry asked one of the goblins sitting in front of him.

"Let's start from the beginning. It's going to be a long story so please, make yourselves comfortable." Ragnok looked intently at the two wizards before him. The goblin could understand the doubt they showed for he himself went through similar scepticism.

"Wait is this place safe to discuss such a matter?" Remus suddenly asked, glancing at Harry worriedly from the corner of his eyes.

The wizard known as boy-who-live, unlike few months ago, now had a set of two black furry ears above his head with a matching colour of a black tail. On his last encounter with Voldemort, the dark lord had done something to Harry's magical core, dooming Harry to live most of his time as a fox seeing that taking a human form took a lot of energy from him. Owing to that incident, his cub was not only on the run from the Death Eaters but from that backstabbing Ministry as well.

"I am very well aware of the predicament Mr. Potter is in and I assure you he and the discussion that will happen is safe here." Ragnok reassured the duo.

"Now before I start, I want to ask you something Mr. Potter. Are you aware your mother was not married to your father?"

"Pardon?" Harry wasn't sure what he had just heard from Ragnok.

"I will take that and your expression as no. How about you Mr. Lupin?"

With a sigh Remus nodded.

"Yes, Sirius and I were aware as well as the headmaster."

"You knew?!" Harry snapped his head towards the gentle werewolf. Remus fidgeted feeling uncomfortable teen's gaze.

"We thought with Lily and James both passed away, there was no point in mentioning such information and cause you more pain."

Harry understood where Remus' logic came from but it didn't help reliving the feeling of betrayed once more. He knew the wolf love him but the fact that he didn't tell everything about his parents still hurt, no matter what that information could have done to him. Remus suffered from guilt knowing that he unintentionally hurt Harry. He turned to the goblin who brought the subject feeling little angry.

"What does this got to do with Lily being alive until Harry was five years old?"

"It was revealed Lily Evans was adopted after her parents' death into her distant relative's family. Her birth name was Kushina Uzumaki born in the Whirlpool Village. It seems that left to the Land of Elements not long before older Mr. Potter's death when she became aware that her birth village was in danger due to the war ravaging the nations. She fought the war for quite some time before she met a man named Minato Namikaze from the Leaf Village and married him to bear one son and died not long after the boy's birth. At the time of her death, Mr. Potter was five years old."

Harry was utterly speechless at the report. He wasn't sure where to start - the fact that he had a half brother or that his mother was married or his mother never bothered to check up on him during that five years?

"Cub, I'll explain everything I know." Remus caressed the back of his cub trying to relax him from the hyperventilation he was about to enter.

"We knew your mother was adopted but we don't know much about her birth place other than it was also a battle-torn place like ours." Harry listened.

"When we graduated from Hogwarts everybody decided to party since we never had much opportunity to celebrate." Remus took a long break and gathered his last courage hoping his cub would take his news better than what he can only imagine.

"I guess everyone had too much to drink and none of us are sure what exactly had happened but to put it simply your father got your mother pregnant."

"What?" He seemed to saying a lot of that word today and he was sure it won't be his last.

"Lily and James both really tried to work it out for your sake but I guess they could never develop the romantic love for each other. And as far as I know they both died that night when you got that scar."

Every person was quietly watching Harry wondering how he was handling revelation.

"I was an accident?" Harry whispered out though it was loud enough to be heard by others.

"Cub." Remus tried to soothes the teen but he couldn't find appropriate words. "Know this. However you were conceived, I know they both loved you very much."

"She practically abandoned me until I was five!" Anger was evident in Harry's voice.

"I think we can pick up from there Mr. Potter." Ragnok interfered motioning towards another goblin sitting next to him.

"His name is Hoknag, Gringotts employee in charge of Elemental Nations region. He is also one who met your mother regarding her will." The said goblin nodded his head in greeting.

"Like I mentioned before," Then Ragnok suddenly stopped. "From now on I will refer Ms. Evans as Mrs. Namikaze. Like I mentioned before, Mrs. Namikaze became aware that her birthplace was in danger and decided to go back to help while deceased Mr. Potter stayed behind to keep then young Mr. Potter safe. It seems that Mrs. Namikaze never knew older Mr. Potter's death until she passed away as our investigation uncovered letters she corresponded with someone pretending to be Mr. Potter."

"Lily didn't know? Who did such a thing?" Remus could feel the rage coursing through him at the revelation.

"We can't say who for sure but a lot of evidence is pointing to Albus Dumbledore." Remus cursed at the name. That old coot was behind it again.

"I will take it over from here." Hoknag interjected.

"I met Mrs. Namikaze not long before her second son's birth. She wanted to set up an account for Mr. Potter, her older son. From what I remember, she was feeling guilty for leaving her older child for such a long time." Hoknag stopped briefly at the heart aching memory of heavily pregnant Kushina shedding her tears at the thought of her other child.

"She said she never expected battles to last this long and didn't want to bring her son to such a dangerous place. I want you to know Mr. Potter that unlike here in Britain, the Elemental Nations were still suffering from wars and instabilities after defeat of You-know-who." Harry just irately glared at the desk before him while Hoknag continued.

"While her hometown had stabilized somewhat, her new found home with her husband was under fragile alliances with other nations and frequent attack of kyuubi no kitsune also translated nine-tails fox. I am not defending her but I can assure you she had her hands more than full." The goblin explained not wanting the human before him to hate his own mother for wrong reasons.

As someone who had spent most of his life in the land of shinobi, he empathized with Kushina's judgment.

"I had to come back to Britain while finalizing her will and that's when I noticed that something was off. I lived mostly in Elemental nations and was oblivious to the situation in England but once here I soon heard the tale of boy-who-lived. It didn't make sense as she told me her son was under the care of his father. When I went back to inquire her of the matter, I couldn't reach her at all. It took me some time to realize Mrs. Namikaze passed away few days after our meeting as well as her husband. That's when I contacted the head office and Gringotts Bank went under investigation." When Hoknag took a breath to rest from his long explanation, Ragnok went on.

"It took us this long to investigate as the people who were involved were mostly deceased and young Mr. Potter couldn't assist us much. Mr. Dumbledore wasn't helpful as well. Probing in elemental country wasn't easy either. The information regarding Namikaze family was highly guarded." The goblin finished.

"I have decided!" Suddenly Harry snapped out of his memories as he was suddenly lifted from his comfy spot on the pillow into the grasp of the blond.

"Your name is going to be Kuro!" Harry stared at the cheerful face of his younger brother.

"You thought of the mutt's name for more than an hour and Kuro is all you can come up with? Man, you really have a terrible naming talent." Jiraiya incredulously stared at his student.

After all that hard thinking the best the blond head can come up with is Kuro which obviously means black rather than ninth son?

"What, you think Kuromaru will be better? Ouch!" Naruto looked at the fox now growling indignantly.

"It's amazing to see even the mutt has a better taste in name than you." Jiraiya muttered.

"Just stick with your first choice, I am sure your other picks aren't going to be much better." Naruto huffed in annoyance at that comment but decided to go with his first option. And after some get-to-know with the fox, the boy soon fell asleep.

Harry fondly stared at the innocent face of his brother. Hoknag had told him that Naruto was a split image of the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's father. He wasn't sure if it was a dream that his half brother decided to take him in. The wizard wasn't expecting things to go this smoothly for him when he first decided to leave Britain to his see his sibling.

Remus encouraged on his choice and the two said his good byes. The sweet werewolf was the only one alive who didn't turn his back on him at his current state. It was sad to leave him, but Harry didn't want to label Remus as a criminal as well for leaving with him. Remus himself also said that he would stay to keep an eye on the current events in Britain.

Harry thanked Hoknag and other Gringotts employ who had helped him. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Hoknag hadn't traveled with him and informed him of the cultures and situations in elemental nations. The translation charms Hoknag showed worked wonders as well. Also, the goblin told him about his mother's life and her new family.

It hurt Harry to know how his brother too had grown up parentless and shunned from most of the villagers because he was some kind of vessel to a nine tailed fox demon not even knowing who his parents were. But he was very proud that Naruto had become a genin despite his hardship.

He watched his brother from the distance for few days, not having courage to speak to him. He didn't want to burden his brother by his existence. After all, he was a wanted person in the wizarding world for he had become what they called a monster and is now into dark magic. Plus, extremely few knew of the magic's existence, and Harry didn't was afraid that Naruto would react same way as the Dursley's. He head knew Naruto wouldn't be like his relative's but being treated different most of his life, Harry was scared nonetheless.

When Naruto left for training with the white haired man, it took Harry awhile to catch up to them in his state. He could take a human form but it wore him out quickly and his tail and ears would catch people's attention. So he had to follow his brother using his tracking charm in a slow pace. It was difficult as he noticed his animal form was not fully developed and he tripped easily. But thankfully he caught on to his brother in few days. And now he was living with him.

"Ung…" Harry's pointy ears twitched at the sound of the child's waking. Harry happily went to his younger brother and started to lick the boy's face making him laugh.

And their day had begun after breakfast as Naruto went back to training. After watching him for few hours, Harry couldn't help but feel little board when he caught the sight of a water balloon that fell from the bag. He started to play with the object on the ground with his paws.

Naruto panted as he watched the small creature's playful antic. The corner of his mouth lifted as Kuro passed the balloon from his right forepaw to his left and vice versa. But soon both of their entertainment ended when the small fox yelped in surprise as the balloon popped with bursting of water.

Harry looked at Naruto afraid that he might have interrupted his training but unlike his worry, the blond seemed to be looking at him with an expression that said he had just discovered something.

"That's it! Good boy!" Naruto yelled out happily as he hugged the black fox.

Harry was still confused when Naruto placed him back on Earth and started to focus on his own water balloon, which soon burst followed by joyful shouts from the genin.

"Good work Kuro-chan! I wouldn't have figured it out if it weren't for you." Naruto petted the young fox as he crouched down before the animal.

Harry only tilted its head to the side still unsure how he was of the boy's help. However, he didn't complain when he was lifted into Naruto's arms to head back towards their inn.

No one was able to describe the smug feeling Naruto experienced as he burst the balloon in that perverted sennin's face to give his wake up call. He was more than pleased to show Jiraiya how he had burst the object though he soon felt like strangle the old man when he found him dozing off during his demonstration. When asked how he had figured the trick Naruto presented the black kit.

"It was this guy."

As Naruto babbled off what had occurred, Harry was just glad he could have assisted his little brother. Shortly, they headed off back to the field and Naruto was back to training, this time using the rubber ball. The wizard was getting worried about the toll Naruto was taking from the workout often flinching or shaking in pain. The older man didn't seem to help the matter as he was asking for money at the moment from Naruto in return for giving him some hint for his training. Harry watched Naruto with fascination as the blond yelled back his protest.

"Kyang!" Harry barked in surprise when he was grabbed from behind his neck.

"Hey where're you taking Kuro-chan?" Naruto protested, as the Sannin was about to take off to gather information.

"Don't worry I'm not going to eat him or sell him. I just got some use for the mutt." Harry didn't like this situation but at the moment, he had no choice.

"You are not trying to lure some women using him are you?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

After some silence of blank expression, a sly grin suddenly appeared on Jiraiya's face as though he had just gotten a great idea.

"I'm off to information gathering." Then he left, leaving behind the shout of 'Hey come back here with Kuro-chan!'

The two traveled for quite time, the man carrying Harry stopped and glanced around making sure no one was near. He finally spoke holding up the fox to his eye level.

"I know you're not a normal fox so I don't want you acting. If I deem you dangerous I won't hesitate to kill you at any time. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded. After some staring contest with the Sannin, Harry yelped in pain as the grip on his neck hardened.

"What's your purpose?"

Harry just mewed in response knowing the man wouldn't understand him though he wasn't really saying much in fox language either.

"Can you speak?" Jiraiya eyed the fox suspiciously.

Harry shook his head not feeling much guilty towards the pervert since it wasn't a complete lie. He couldn't speak like them in his fox form.

"We'll see about that." Yet Jiraiya seemed to accept the answer. "Do you plan anything that will harm Naruto?"

Harry mewed while vigorously shaking his head negative.

Jiraiya searched the two green orbs for any deceitfulness and when he couldn't sense any he loosened the grip on the fox a little bit to relieve the creature's pain.

"But remember what I said. I will kill you if I feel that you will harm Naruto."

Harry barked and nodded his head some more.

"Now since that's settled, you'll have to stick with me for the rest of the day."

Harry answered knowing the man will understand him despite the language barrier. So the boy-who-lived painfully hung onto the pervert's shoulder for the remainder of the day. By the evening, the wizard got the hang of the trick after few helpful tips from Jiraiya, though Harry guessed that the only reason the man offered to help him was because he was getting tired of picking the fox up from the ground followed by his pain filled yelp.

Days flew by as Harry spent blissfully spent his time by his brothers side, watching him train most of the day. It broke Harry's heart time to time as Naruto stared at the Happy family walking in the street with a sad expression. At least the white haired pervert wasn't as heartless as Harry had originally considered since he had seen caring for the child in his own way which included sharing a Popsicle with Naruto.

"Thanks boy." Naruto smiled in delight as his pain subsided.

For the past few days, Harry had used his magic to heal Naruto's chakra burned hands as best as he could, glad that he could be use to the genin in some way. Jiraiya seemed wary but didn't threaten Harry when they were alone given that the ability only benefited the blond child. When Naruto had mastered the Step Two of the training, it was decided that they were going to be on their way again to meet someone named Tsunade.

"Let's go what? You're such a kid." Naruto grumbled.

Harry watched bemused as he soon found the reason for Naruto's upset mood was due to delay in his training. Or so he thought as Jiraiya blew the balloon. Harry listened carefully trying to understand the concept the Sannine was explaining to be helpful. Soon Harry and Naruto stared in amazement at what was expected of the Step Three training. The round ball of chakra swirling in Jiraiya's hand was like a miniature tycoon.

Unfortunately, no one warned Harry when Naruto tried to create a small hurricane himself only to fail as the wizard found himself falling off of the blond's shoulder from the uncontrolled energy. Harry shook his head and stood up straight from his position, consoling himself that he was getting good at landing from the high spot at least whereas Naruto listened to Jiraiya's explanation.

As the new town came into the view, Harry arrived at what he deemed as a gambling house to his distaste. Harry had to snort in disbelief when Jiraiya's bet was only saved by Naruto's another failure try. That pervert was an idiot.

Harry couldn't resist himself growling when their next destination was to the casino. Doesn't that man know children shouldn't be here? Only good that came out from this trip was Naruto hitting the jackpot from the slot machine, allowing the child to fill his purse full again. It ticked off Harry to know that the reason for the previous empty state of Naruto's purse was solely due to this pervert's activity. Harry was thankful that his brother wasn't tainted by that man.

"So! So! Where's the castle?" Naruto asked.

Everyone looked stunned at the sight of the crumbled castle before them. When a man stopped by Jiraiya mentioned the big snake, which he referred to as a monster, was behind the destruction, the first thing that came to Harry's mind was a basilisk. Nevertheless, Harry thought it was possible to have been one of the shinobi. One thing Harry had learned during his short stay in the land of the elements was that these shinobi dealt quite some deadly force. He could now understand when Hoknag mentioned his mother had more than her hands full.

"Let's go Naruto."

Harry refrained from squeaking in fright, as Naruto followed Jiraiya, somersaulting occasionally to his dismay. In the end, their search yielded nothing and Harry found themselves looking for a place to catch dinner.

"How about we just eat dinner here?" Harry looked in disapproval toward the older man despite knowing he won't give a damn.

"What?! It's a pub!" Yes, Harry had the same protest flying out of his head like his brother though he couldn't disagree on the fact that information could be gathered at places like these.

"Huh? Tsunade!" Jiraiya called out.

"Jiraiya?" A woman answered from one corner of the shop. It appeared that they have finally found a person they were searching for.

They joined the seat with the two women and to his annoyance, Harry noticed the pig sitting in front of him was bigger than him. However, soon Harry was happily chewing on his portion of food given by Naruto while he listened to the conversation.

Harry barked in surprise as Naruto suddenly choked on his food at the mention of Tsunade becoming the Fifth Hokage. Harry pushed a glass of water toward Naruto which the blond took gratefully. Quickly, the conversation tensed as a topic of Orochimaru defeating the Third Hokage emerged. Harry watched in wary as Naruto became angrier by the minute. He also seemed upset about the fact that the blond woman got recommended to become the Fifth Hokage.

"Are you willing to accept?" Jiraiya asked after settling Naruto down.

_I will revive your beloved younger brother and man. And this time, I will annihilate the Leaf Village completely. _

Suddenly those eerie words ringed in Harry's mind from the blond kunoichi. The wizard could feel the woman's turmoil at the temptation. Harry shuddered helplessly at the darkness radiating from those haunting words while people at the table argued more over the previous matter. The subject of the Fourth Hokage only worsened the atmosphere as Tsunade now started to insult the Third Hokage and the title Hokage itself. The rage was seeping out from Naruto's glare.

The sound of foods flying and dishes crashing made their group centre of the pub's attention. Harry was just glad that Jiraiya was able to grab the boy before he charged toward the woman to cause more damage. Naruto cried out in rage at the older man's action.

"Anyone who insults the Third gramps and the Fourth, I am not going to hold back even if she's a woman! I am going to kick your ass!"

Harry's eyes widened as Naruto challenged one of the Sannin. He had heard tales of the Sannin from Hoknag and he still had a hard time believing this white haired pervert was one of the three. To everyone's dismay, Tsunade accepted the challenge and soon he was standing next to Jiraiya worrying if his brother will walk out of this alive when Tsunade informed the boy she only needed one finger to deal with him. Oh how true it turned out to be.

"Why do you get so obsessed to the title of Hokage?" Everything happened so fast. The battle between the two was hopeless, as Harry would put it. It was like well literally a child versus adult. At Tsunade's question, Naruto proudly held his ground and spoke out.

"Unlike you, I will succeed the name of Hokage, because it's my dream to become Hokage." At those words, Harry noticed the disturbance in the woman's mind. Naruto took the chaos Tsunade struggling as an opportunity and charged at the kunoichi using his new skill. Then to all audience's amazement, the ground split open.

Harry couldn't close his open mouth as the earth before him just literally cracked open from the woman's fingertip! By the time Harry was back to the reality, Naruto was shouting back at Tsunade about how he will be able to perfect the skill.

"All I need is three days and I can master that technique!"

Harry just stared at his brother, wondering if what the boy had just said had some possibilities. Well, from what he had learned, Naruto was unpredictable and very hard working ninja so Harry wouldn't just put it impossible.

"Well then, let's make a bet." At Tsunade's generous offer of extending the time limit to one week, Harry was little relieved. Though it was a pity for Naruto to unwillingly bet his money over seemingly suspicious necklace. For some unknown reason, that harmless looking accessory made Harry uncomfortable.

"The time limit is one week! I will master that 'whatever-gan' jutsu!" While Naruto announced his new goal to the world from their new room at the inn, Harry's ears were busy focusing on footsteps coming closer to their door.

It sounded awful like a woman named Shizune. When Naruto and Shizune were looking for an inn to stay, Harry had picked up on her unique footstep sound caused by her hills. As the young wizard had expected, Shizune soon came into the room to reveal about the legendary Kunoichi's tragic past although Harry had to snort in laughter at the part of so called a 'cursed necklace.'

Yeah right. If there was such a handy object, people wouldn't have gone so much trouble to kill Voldemort. Okay putting a necklace on that madman would be a tricky part but the point was Harry knew that was nothing more than people's superstition and idiocy.

Fortunately, his brother wasn't that foolish enough to believe such a farfetched story and the genin headed out into the night to carry on his training. By the time sun brightened the day, Harry felt sorry for the trees Naruto used as a dummy for the exercise.

"What is it?" When Naruto felt a tug on his pants, he found Kuro pulling it with his mouth. The said fox then ran towards his backpack, nearby was a steaming cup noodle. Naruto quirked his eyes wondering how the small creature managed to find water, boil it, and cook the instant noodle.

"Thanks Kuro-chan." Harry watched Naruto settling down to eat his brunch thankful that his brother sharing the food with him. When the hyperactive boy decided to skip breakfast, Harry got worried and dug through the boy's bag to find something to eat. Once the cup noodle was out, he summoned water and boiled the content.

By the nightfall, Naruto fell asleep outside like the previous day. Harry stayed awake keeping an eye on him when he noticed another presence around his ward. He turned his head and found Tsunade watching Naruto from afar. Harry could feel her internal struggle even before they met their eyes. They stared for a long time before she silently took her leave.

The next morning came and everything repeated in same routine. By the sixth night, Harry himself was also becoming more than tired from staying up during night watching over the child and healing Naruto whenever the genin's injuries become severe. Harry didn't even have any energy to mewl though he was wondering what that pervert was up to. He didn't even see a hair of that man but instead, he saw Tsunade every night checking up on the boy.

"Why won't it work?" Naruto muttered weakly in his prone position. Sadly, Harry couldn't do much this time in his spot as Naruto fell to bliss of unconsciousness, as he himself was worn-out. He wasn't sure if he could stay awake tonight to watch over his half brother.

"What… what happened Naruto-kun?!" Harry recognized the voice of Shizune without turning his head not that he had any energy.

"Hey little one. I am going to move Naruto-kun back to his inn, okay?" Then Harry felt himself being lifted gently and placed on Naruto's abdomen. The rustling and another movement indicated to Harry that he was being picked up again with Naruto by Shizune. On their way back Shizune met Tsunade who was probably coming to check on the child again.

The feeling of a soft blanket beneath him pleased Harry greatly to his exhausted body. Naruto's warmth also made Harry sleepier than ever while Shizune attended to the boy's injury. Harry wanted to growl at the nosy porky's face near him but he was too busy fighting off the fatigue.

"Jiraiya was right. I shouldn't have made such a ridiculous bet." Tsunade said with regret.

What was she thinking in the first place? She felt guilty at the state the boy was in.

"Heh Heh For me to become such hot headed. How stupid."

That was the last sentence Harry actually understood followed by some argument between the two kunoichi followed by a thump on the floor. Harry too slipped into the land of dream as he heard the footsteps of Tsunade growing fainter.

* * *

A/N: This is a rough copy of something I wanted to write for some time. It hasn't been beta'd or fine tuned. I just felt like writing and sharing for some odd unknowin reason while working on Child of Fire's next chapter. I am not sure I what I will do with this lol. I will beta it one day when I feel like fine tuning it but at the moment I am caught in by some other plot bunnies as well lol. I will think more carefully once done with Child of Fire's coming chapter. :D

Word Kuro in Japanese have two meaning; one means black, other means ninth's son. Although it has similar pronunciation, depending on the meaning, it will have different kanji. Think in English as They're and Their or to and too.

The word Gumiho means Nine-tailed fox in Korean (Yes, that's my origin if you are wondering.). If you ask me whey I used Gumiho instead of Kyuubi no Kitsune, well for one it was shorter and I wanted to used something from my culture since I am the author. Also, most of nine-tailed fox knowledge I have comes from my culture. I am sure except for somes miinor details, the general idea regarding that mythical creature is similar from China to Korea to Japan. Even in Korea, the legend regarding gumiho varies from region to region, where some depict as evil creature of trickster and some area depict as more a sad creature longing to become human. If I am wrong, you're welcome to correct me on it.

Thanks for the review. I will work on it one day. :D


End file.
